Experiment - Zoom Lens

Zoom Lens

Definitions 

Zoom Lens - A lens allowing a camera to change smoothly from a long shot to a close-up or vice versa by varying the focal length.

Wide angle lenses (short focal length) - capture more because they have a wider picture angle

Telephoto lenses (long focal length) - have a narrower picture angle

A longer focal length - associated with larger magnification of distant objects, and a narrower angle of view.

A shorter focal length - associated with a reduction of objects and a wider angle of view.

The image below demonstrates this technique. 

FOCAL LENGTH

The most important factor in any camera lens is its focal length. This determines which type of lens it is, and what subjects it will be able to photograph. Focal lengths range from just a few millimetres up to over a metre. 

The different focal lengths can be grouped as followed:

Image Bank 

My Images - portrait 

18mm focal length

24mm focal length

35mm focal length

55mm focal length

By creating these images I have discovered that as the focal length increases the image becomes more focused on the subject of the photo, in relation to portraiture. When using a shorter focal length more of the background is visible and the background is also slightly distorted which I believe is effective as it gives the image a surreal feel to it. I also like the larger focal length because the focus is on the model in the image and I like the way that I am now able to visibly see what the difference in focal length can do to an image.

My Images - Landscape

18mm focal length

24mm focal length

35mm focal length

55mm focal length

I feel as though when taking photos of the landscape I did not see as much of a difference in using the focal lengths as I did when looking into portraiture. I think that this is because when using a model it is easier to see that the model is becoming the focal point of the image however when taking the images above there is no obvious focal point therefore I think it isn't as obvious that the focal length is being altered. I do think that there is a difference in the different images. I think that as the focal length is increased the image is focusing on a smaller area.

To take each of the images above I used an aperture of f/10 - f/11 and a shutter speed of 1/200 - 1/250. I used this aperture because I wanted to create a wide depth of field. I also used a relatively fast shutter speed because I aimed to freeze motion rather than capturing it. I also used a tripod to capture these images because I wanted the image to be in the exact same position because this made the use of different focal lengths a lot more clear.  

 

Evaluation 

I feel as though my portrait images were successful because it is clear that each photo is using a different focal length. As I mentioned above I believe this is more clear in the portraiture images I have taken.  After completing this activity I believe I understand how using different focal lengths can alter an image.

A weakness of my landscape images is that they are slightly over exposed which is due to the camera settings that I have used. 

Progression 

I feel as though I could experiment with the zoom lens technique in my future work when photographing landscapes.